An offer has been laid on the table by Joshua’s team and fans are now patiently awaiting a firm response from Wilder and his advisors.
Whilst Joshua has been accused of making a lowball and insulting offer to Wilder, the American’s desire to face the Briton on UK soil has also come into dispute.
What we do know is WBC champion Wilder has a reported $12.5m cheque sitting in front of him to travel across the Atlantic in an attempt to relieve Joshua of his four title belts.
This deal represents a career highest pay-day by some margin for ‘The Bronze Bomber’ and is possibly not too far away from what he could have expected anyway.
Wilder making his desperation to unify public knowledge for some years now, along with telling Joshua he’d take any deal – provided it was reversed in the rematch – has seemingly backfired.
Joshua has tested the waters with a deal that would ultimately see Wilder walk away with less money than his last opponent Joseph Parker, but that the current top division king is fully aware represents a massive jump in purse for his prospective foe.
But there’s further querying as to why the offer isn’t similar to the Parker deal or even a little less, as the ex-WBO title holder wasn’t exactly making millions in his native New Zealand either.
Whatever the case, Eddie Hearn had his say on Joshua’s current stance as mandatory Alexander Povetkin waits in the wings for his chance.
“If they (Wilder’s team) don’t want it, we’ll fight our mandatory (Povetkin),” Hearn told Ring Magazine.
“If they don’t accept it, the fight’s not dead. It just means we’re going to fight Alexander Povetkin next, and we’ll talk again in December, or February or March of next year.”
On arranging a similar split of the pot as Parker’s 35 percent, Hearn added:
“We’re the A-side of this matchup. (Even) A 60-40 split is so disproportionate in terms of the relative values of both fighters.
“Our offer is five times what Deontay Wilder has made for any fight. Everything he gets in this fight is because of Anthony,” he pointed out.
Shelly Finkel, Wilder’s representative, is already plotting his response.
“If you’re going to make an offer that insults Deontay Wilder, it’s obvious Eddie doesn’t want the fight right now,” said Finkel to The Telegraph.
A deal certainly can be done between the pair, but could hinge on whether Wilder will bow to Joshua’s strict terms this time around and vice versa for the Matchroom star in any future rematch.
